A Look at the Details

As someone a little obsessed with the small details of life, this image should not come as any surprise. It's a close-up view of the carving detail on a beautiful piece at Waitangi's Te Tii Marae in the Far North's Bay of Islands.

Celebrating Waitangi Day

Today is a public holiday in New Zealand - designated such to celebrate Waitangi Day, which in turn celebrates the signing of The Treaty of Waitangi at Waitangi in 1840. That's an aerial view of the Waitangi National Trust grounds at Waitangi above. The bridge across the causeway links Waitangi to the nearby village of Paihia in the Bay of Islands.

The two photographs above are among the many I took when I visited Waitangi last April, while travelling New Zealand updating the travel guide Frommers New Zealand. They show two views of Te Tii Marae, which sits adjacent to the Waitangi National Trust grounds and is the focus of Waitangi Day celebrations. Thousands of people and politicians will be packed in here today - and if today is like any other Waitangi Day celebration, some controversey is bound to arise.

The flagpole in the Treaty Grounds
I meanwhile, will be attending the Ngai Tahu Waitangi Day celebrations, which are being held at Onuku Marae in Akaroa. The Governor General of New Zealand, Sir Anand Satyanand will be in attendance. I hope to bring you photographs from today's Akaroa event later today and tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Steeped in History

Waitangi, Northland. April 2009. Ajr

I HAD to stop and photograph these magnificent carvings at Te Tii Marae in Waitangi when I was there in April. The marae (often inappropriately referred to as the Lower Waitangi marae - in relation to its proximity to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds), sits beside the Waitangi River and opposite Te Tii Beach and is the focal point of Waitangi Day celebrations on February 6th each year. It is also an important meeting place for the Ngapuhi people.

More From Te Tii Marae

This is the very cute wharenui at Te Tii Marae, build along the lines of the European-style community halls of the 1880s. Opened in 1922 by then Prime Minister, William Massey, it was built by members of the Maori Women’s League (now the Maori Women’s Welfare League), after World War I and the international flu epidemic had had a severe impact on the male members of Northland iwi. It replaces the original building, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which was erected on the same site in 1881 but was destroyed by a gale in 1917.

I also loved the gateway – I have a bit of a thing about entrances to buildings and complexes – and I photographed the plaque which sits on the inside wall of the entrance.